Album front cover process

Firstly I opened the album concept sketch on a 4.724in x 4.724in canvas (standard size of an album cover) and made it central so the cover would have a balanced look.

I then went over the sketch with some cleaner linework and shading, and I also decided to change the hair to a curly style as it creates a more interesting image and it also helps draw attention to the face and hands.

I changed the background to a lilac colour, giving the album a pink and purple colour scheme (which was common with the album covers I analysed).

I then decided to go for a black outline for the hands and face to further make it stand out.

Adding some white to the cover (as suggested by my focus group) broke up the purple theme so it wasn't too overwhelming. I also duplicated 2 layers of the hair and placed one layer either side of the original and decreased the opacity on both, giving the hair a fuller look. 

I then tried out 3 fonts (1 handwritten) for the artist name and album title to see which works best with the composition of the album cover.

My focus group liked the handwritten font as it fit with the whole hand-drawn aesthetic, but they suggested that it might look better in capital letters, so tried it and my focus group voted it as their favourite font. I also decided to add some yellow to the cover in accordance to the colour conventions of the album covers I analysed (see my post on the codes and conventions of CD digipak).